Operation: Mariposa

by Scarlet Fever

Seifer/Squall slash! Rated M for Graphic language, violence, sexual content and drug/alcohol use. What do you do when your whole world turns against you? Been a while since I posted a fic on here! Work In Progress!

11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"What?!" Squall demanded sharply. The other two were just staring at Irvine, dumbfounded. So, Seifer had been working for Irvine all this time. Killing for him...

"Oh, please!" Irvine snapped. "Don't be so naïve." All his usual flirty playfulness was gone, leaving a cold detachment behind. "What, did you think it was just coincidence when... we... met... moogle..." The newly revealed Sol trailed off when he finally noticed Serino, sitting on Quistis's shoulder and holding her neck. Irvine, like most other humans, had never seen a moogle outside of an artist's drawing. Not even a photograph. Serino stared back, eyes narrowed. Now, this was what the aura of an assassin should look like. Veiled, indigo. Dark and secretive.

He shook his head and composed himself, looking coolly at Squall and Quistis. "It wasn't just chance that when you went to Galbadia Garden back when we met again, that they just happened to have an assassin right there handy for your mission. What do you think Martine was teaching us?" He asked harshly. "Garden isn't all sunshine, which is something Balamb students forget." His irritated reply had all the air of something that had been festering in him for a while. "And, I think the GF should be put away before any of Xu's men realize it's more than just Leviathan's magical signature." The pool of magical water at Irvine's feet sucked into the ground like an emptying sink, the serpent vanishing along with it. The other three looked at each other, and Seifer slowly nodded before calling Bahamut away. Squall was the last to call his GF back within himself, glaring at Irvine. He felt tricked by his childhood friend. He hated being tricked.

"What are you doing here?" Seifer asked, first to regain his composure after this little bombshell.

"Trying to get you to Esthar, darlin'," Irvine replied with a crooked grin. "But, it's not going to be easy. "And, I don't know how much I'll actually be able to help you. Xu's watching me like a hawk, and the only reason she brought me on the Mariposa team was to keep an eye on me."

"Does she know...?" Quistis asked chokingly. Seeing Irvine's face, hearing him talk about Garden and mention Xu's name made things all come crashing back to them. Out here, in the wilds of Centra, they could almost forget about why they were even out here in the first place. Seeing Irvine's familiar periwinkle eyes and cowboy hat actually wasn't all that pleasant.

"What? That I've been operating a rather successful assassin's cell right under her nose? No." His voice softened.

"Well, I have to admit that you did a good job keeping it a secret," Quistis admitted begrudgingly. "You and Xu actually have a lot in common."

"You mean hiring people to do our dirty work for us?" Irvine asked, amused.

"Something like that," was her tight reply, words practically spitting out like bullets.

"Look," the crooked, flirty grin was gone, leaving something cold and calculating behind that they figured had always been there in Irvine, but they just never noticed before. "Xu's paranoia is through the roof right now. The closer you guys get to Esthar, the closer she is to getting found out. The Estharian army could crush Garden in an instant, and she's terrified of losing her position as Headmaster. She'll do anything to catch you guys. Operation: Mariposa is her obsession."

"Which is...?" Seifer asked.

"To catch and execute two rogue SeeD," Quistis answered before Irvine could. "It would be her duty. It's probably been in the back of her mind for a long time."

"Love can turn to hate really easily," Irvine said, reaching into his pocket. Lionheart was immediately raised into his face. Irvine blinked his periwinkle eyes and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. "Now..." He trailed off as he lit the cigarette, taking a long drag. He turned his attentions to his assassin, his Jupiter. Seifer's eyes gave nothing away. "Xu has forces at most of the points leading out of the mountains and into the desert. There is a small path head south-southeast of here that isn't being watched. Use it. It leads to the water, and you could swim along the coastline, then out around the southern edge of Cactuar Island, and to Minde Island, where you'll be safe from Xu."

"Hardly," Squall muttered scathingly. He had ill feelings towards Irvine right now. Not simply because he'd kept something like this hidden and Squall had been completely fooled, but because Squall knew Seifer didn't want to be an assassin. He felt trapped into being Jupiter. It was like Irvine had prayed on his vulnerability.

"I'll have someone waiting for you on Minde, to take you further into Esthar, so don't worry." Smoke wafted out of Irvine's mouth as he spoke. "I've been trying to find proof of Xu framing you for Cid and Evan's murders, but Astor and Luchia are prowling around like tigers, and they already suspect me of siding with you anyway. I can't get ten feet within her office." He started to reach into his coat again, and fire exploded in Seifer's fist, licking around his clenched fingers. "Oohh," Irvine purred. "You're so sexy when you're being forceful." All he pulled out was a stick of gum, though.

But, all Irvine's playful flirtation came away from his face when he looked at Quistis. "Look, Quisty... I don't like telling you bad news, but there isn't much good news going around. Looks like Xu finally got her claws into Nida."

It was like someone told her this news from very faraway. "Oh?" Was what she said, trying to ignore what felt like a monster trying to claw its way out of her stomach.

"I think he fucked her, but of course, I don't have any proof. She's still with Zell, but..."

"You can tell," Quistis murmured, staring at him. Through him. "You can always tell when people are having sex." She didn't say it teasingly or scathingly. It was just a cold fact.

"Zell doesn't see that she's only using him. And, he won't listen to me. You know how he is when he thinks he's right."

"Why?" Seifer asked carefully, changing the subject with just one word.

Irvine cocked his head, regarding Seifer with an equal amount of care. "Because I believe in you," he replied after a long pause. The question had been just one word, but had asked a hundred others. The reply answered everything underlying Seifer's single syllable. "And, you know... you are pretty cute."

Squall ignored Irvine's flirting. Or, tried valiantly to. He'd seen him flirt with a couple of men before, so it was hardly surprising. Instead, he was looking at Quistis. She had her fists held at her sides, and was watching Irvine carefully. Squall thought maybe he should say something to her about Nida and Xu's apparent relationship, but he wasn't good with words in this kind of situation, and when he tried to come up with something comforting, he couldn't. And, he knew that Quistis didn't really want to hear it.

"What will happen if you can't find any proof?" Quistis asked as if she hadn't heard Irvine's suspicions about Nida at all.

"Probably a cold war. Xu's too smart to pick a fight with Esthar, especially when their leader is the father of one of the people she's framing. And, Esthar can't just storm in there and drag her out without some solid facts. But, you could be extradited if you just wander around the streets. You'll just have to be fugitives, and hide out wherever Laguna can stick you."

"What about you?" Was Seifer's stiff question.

Irvine smirked, but his eyes were soft. He had a lot of admiration for his Jupiter. "I don't really need Garden anymore. But I'm still trying to find proof to free you." He took a long drag from the cigarette, looking at Quistis. God, he'd missed them. Despite what he really was, be it assassin or shameless cad, he was more than capable of feeling deep love, and he deeply loved these three people. "Nida's here, too."

Quistis's full mouth pursed, but it was the only emotion she showed. "How long?"

"Just recently. I don't know what the hell's gotten into him. At the beginning, he and I were in complete agreement about this whole fucking debacle, but now it's like Xu's planted her eggs in his brain. Just like all the other fucking cows who once claimed to care about you." Yes, he knew he was including Selphie and Zell in there, too.

"Maybe he told Xu you're Sol," Squall muttered. He stepped closer to Seifer, and reached for his hand. Seifer looked like a deer in headlights, his unwanted life as Jupiter coming back like a slap in the face.

Squall taking Seifer's hand didn't escape Irvine's notice. "He can't tell what he doesn't know."

"He's not one of your... planets, or whatever?" Quistis asked. Her tongue felt like it was made of wool.

Irvine shook his head.

Quistis's lips pursed just a little, but she quenched any further emotion. She'd been hoping that Nida was somehow working as a covert agent, still on her side. Still believing in her. Looks like Xu really did get everything she wanted, after all.

"I got in contact with Fujin. She said that Laguna took a small group to an old army outpost in the southeast of the Abadan Plains. Close to Minde. God, she was fucking pissed at me about 'making' you be an assassin. I'm just glad she doesn't know who I am yet. Buys me some time before my own employee starts hunting me down."

"Fujin?" Squall asked sharply.

Irvine's brow constricted. "Yeah..." He trailed off as if Squall were simple. "Wait... you didn't tell them?"

"What?" Squall demanded, voice raspy but firm. His icy eyes darted between Irvine and Seifer. Sol and Jupiter.

"It wasn't my secret to tell," was the grim response.

"Even now, you're still loyal and noble. And no, I'm not making fun of you." He turned to Squall and Quistis. "Fujin is one of mine. When did you find out?"

"When I didn't care about hiding it anymore," Seifer answered. When all that mattered was Squall staying alive.

"You have to keep moving. I've stayed way too long already. Just... stay close to the water. Swim what you can. I'll try to get Leviathan to help you. Just get to Minde, and things will be okay." He then suddenly leaned into Seifer and gave him a big, not platonic at all kiss on the mouth. He let his lips linger, and brought Seifer's lower lip into his mouth. Seifer just stood there in shock, and Squall's face went white with rage. When Irvine pulled back, he grinned. "Just wanted to see what it was like, y'know?" He tipped his hat to them, and walked into the darkness, and out of view.

The three of him just let him go with a weary silence. It didn't even occur to them to be shocked about what just happened. They'd had so many people in their lives turn out to be something... else. What was one more? They started walking down the goat path that led to the mouth of the Kashkabald. Walking was instinct now. They had to keep moving. They couldn't stop. One foot in front of the other and they would stay alive. They would stay together.

"Can we trust him?" Quistis asked tonelessly after a silent trudge. Even Serino was very quiet. Not a single peep or 'kupo'. It felt like a horrible thing to ask about a childhood friend, but they'd had far too much of friends betraying them.

"Don't have a choice," Squall muttered, still fuming about another man kissing Seifer right in front of him. He was quite shocked about Irvine. It actually made him feel all kinds of horrible. He'd never much paid attention to Irvine. His memory was still fuzzy about their childhood relationship. Irvine must have had all these fond memories of them playing together as children, growing up together before being shipped off to different Gardens. And, Squall didn't remember it. God, what a fucking asshole, he chastised mentally. Just like he hadn't noticed that Seifer had always had deep romantic feelings for him. All that time. He'd been closer to Seifer than he'd been to anyone, and it still took him seventeen years to see it. Hyne, Quistis had been in 'love' with him too, and had he noticed that?!

"You okay?" He heard Quistis's warm, velvety voice asked, like she was asking from inside a tin can.

Squall slowly looked at her. "Huh?"

"Where did you go that's so far away?"

"Where I always go."

She reached up and touched his cheek affectionately. When she started walking up on ahead, Squall found himself looking at Seifer. As if he needed any internal, thoughtful reasoning to do that, other than he was so fucking beautiful, and Squall loved him violently. They trudged along, actually moving slower than they had in any of the other portions of their journey across Centra. Because... maybe they didn't want to get to Esthar. Only false accusations, suspicions and betrayal would be waiting for them there. Maybe Laguna wouldn't be happy to see a son that was now a wanted criminal, who'd slapped his own sister, and said such hurtful things about his dead wife. But here... they had each other. Here, Seifer kept them safe. Seifer, his lover. Seifer, their hero. Seifer, who looked so miserable.

Squall's deep thinking had made him lag behind, so he trotted to catch up to the other man, reaching for his hand and holding it tight. Seifer had removed his mittens because the temperature was climbing at a fast, noticeable rate. Squall also took his mittens off, and the feel of Seifer's bare hand against his own was still like an electrical spark - powerful and surprising. Squall's hands were actually one of his most sensitive body parts, one of his erogenous zones. So, touching Seifer's bare hand with his own was like touching more intimate body parts.

"Are you okay?" Squall asked. He leaned into Seifer, stretching out his stride just as Seifer shortened his own so they could walk in sync.

"Same as I always am," Seifer answered with the Almasy grin out in full force. But, it was so tight and sad around the edges. The smirk vanished, Seifer knowing he couldn't hide anything from Squall. "You would figure finding out that Sol was someone I know would make me feel better somehow. But, it makes me feel so much worse. Like even my friends don't think I'm anything better than a killer."

"You know that Irvine doesn't see it that way," Squall murmured. Quistis was up further ahead, a pair of binoculars out, scanning things, so this conversation was wholly private. Serino was gesturing to her with his fuzzy white paws, which looked a little on the dirty side. Even moogles were affected by hard journeys. "You heard him. The disrespect in his voice for Balamb SeeD. He chose you, and Fujin too, because he respects you. Maybe even more than he respects me or Quisty."

"He loves you guys."

"He loves you, too. You think he'd kiss just anyone like that?"

Seifer rolled his eyes, but a smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You think everyone wants to have sex with me, don't you? And yeah he does kiss people like that all the time."

Squall's mind got stuck on the words 'have sex with me', until he was hearing it looped over and over again in his head, Seifer's voice so husky and inviting.

"C'mon now Kitten, you're going to make me all distracted," Seifer teased, seeing the look on Squall's face, the way his eyes darkened like a cold, deep ocean.

"Kitten?" Squall echoed. He thought that Seifer might have called him that once before recently, but it hadn't registered. Or, maybe he'd called him that a few times while they were students, too. His memory of that time was still a little hit-or-miss.

"You don't like it? I think it suits you, with the whole Lion thing and all."

Squall shrugged as if he didn't care, but it was really because it made him suddenly feel very shy. He actually really, really liked the nickname. It seemed so... couple-ish.

Seifer's grin lost its edge of sadness. Squall could try to hide it all he wanted, but Seifer would always know how he felt.

"Guys!" Quistis hissed, waving them over with an urgent hand. Both men were all completely business again when they crouched beside her. She was looking out towards the desert, and handed Seifer the binoculars. "What do you think, hon?"

Seifer peered across the Western expanse of the Kashkabald, and saw the great shadow in the distance that had Quistis so excited - a sandstorm. The tall man pursed his lips in thought, handing the binoculars to Squall.

"Looks like it's coming pretty fast," Squall noted.

"They usually don't last very long, either..." Quistis noted. "Remember that one when we were stationed here with the Ioam, and it only lasted five minutes, but three of them died?"

" ...no," Squall muttered, squinting through the binoculars. More black spots in his memory, but these ones were of his own making. "I was drunk, remember?"

"We can still see the coast now, but if we don't start moving, we'll lose our bearings and probably walk right on Xu's toes."

"You think we should?" Squall wondered. He was getting a bad feeling.

"We don't have much choice, kupo," Serino said kindly. He could sense the shift in Squall's aura. His apprehension that something was going to happen. Serino could see an empathetic sheen of gold in Squall's aura. He was more in touch with the world's intangible and spiritual energy than the other two humans, whose auras had the sheen of silver - analytical and scientific. Serino also could sense something bad might happen, but if they stayed where they were, something bad was certain to happen.

"Stay in constant physical contact," Quistis urged them, reaching out and grabbing the back of Seifer's coat. She felt Serino brush past her, and Squall's warmth to her back. They came out of the mountains for the first time in a long time - nearly two months, though they didn't realize it because the passage of time had become something illusory. The desert air felt like a blast furnace against their faces when they weren't protected by the mountains.

Once they were in the sandstorm fully, barely able to see an inch in front of them and being pelted by the grains of sand that felt like sharp rocks and needles, Serino started peeping worriedly. This sandstorm didn't feel natural. And, Diablos agreed, because he forcibly disjunctioned himself from Quistis. She tried to quell the groan that ripped from her throat, but still stumbled to her knees, clutching her chest in pain. A forcible disjunction was never comfortable, but Diablos was so agitated, and his power so high, that it felt like he'd taken a kidney with him.

"This is no sandstorm," Diablos warned. Shiva and Bahamut also disjunctioned, causing their masters to buckle under the pain.

"Pandemona," Shiva hissed, yellow ribbons at her temples flapping in the high winds.

"It's a trap." Bahamut spread his wings out wide to shelter the humans from the pelting, swirling sands. "Run."

"Fuck," Squall hissed. Irvine must have betrayed them... shit, shit, shit. He shouldn't have trusted him! He'd been lying about being Sol this whole time, why would lying about this be any different?!

"Come on!" Quistis called through the thick sand. She felt someone bump into her, but the visibility was zero, so she had no idea who it was. She gasped when the sound of gunfire could be heard over Pandemona's roaring winds.

"This way!" Seifer shouted, reaching out and grabbing Quistis's wrist with one hand, Squall's bicep with the other. He wouldn't need his hands free for Hyperion now. They had to get away... he had to get Squall and Quisty to Esthar. He could hear Serino peeping near his ear from his position on Quistis's shoulder, holding on for dear life and casting some kind of faerie magic. He felt something like a punch in the gut, which meant Bahamut must have taken some damage from the gunfire they were hearing over the howling noise of the sandstorm.

Seifer ran as fast as he could, dragging Quistis and Squall along with him. He felt one of them stumble, but he yanked them back up to their feet, fast enough that it might have popped their shoulder out of joint. But, it didn't matter. The sound of Garden's gunfire was getting closer, and something else... the sound of a voice calling out instructions over a megaphone. Xu.

The sound of her old friend's voice yelling for the Garden troops to hunt them down sent chills down Quistis's spine. It was more painful than the throbbing in her shoulder. It'd been her that fell, and she'd felt a pop when Seifer had pulled her back up. "Find them. NOW!" She could hear Xu scream, voice echoing. "Bring them to me!"

"Faster!" Seifer urged them. The gunfire was getting closer, and he heard a bullet whiz dangerously close to his ear. The sound of Shiva, Bahamut and Diablos casting magic against the Garden GF was deafening. Behind them, Shiva screamed, and even through the sands, they could see the cool glowing of her body ignited by a massive fireball. Ifrit casting a rare spell, which meant that it must have been Zell controlling him. If Zell were here, that meant that Selphie probably was, too. Seifer was most concerned about getting attacked by Doomtrain. They'd be completely fucked if they got bogged down with its toxins. And, what about Rinoa?

He shook his head. He couldn't think about that now. Seifer knew this area of Kashkabald, and knew there was a sloping cliff ahead that would lead down to the waters, and out of the sandstorm. It was secluded enough that they could hide for a little while, especially if the SeeD were held up with some kind of distraction

They flew out of the front end of the storm, the sand so white it was blinding. Shouting and bullets chased after them, and when a few SeeD agents blasted through the storm in front of them, they were met with the resistance of three angry GF. Shiva flung out razor-sharp shards of ice, which imbedded in a few of the SeeD like shrapnel. Ifrit then came flying out of the sandstorm, and tackled Shiva with a loud, angry roar. In the distance, Seifer could hear the ominous whine of Doomtrain's whistle.

"Come on!" Seifer shouted over the cacophony - bullets and shouting, magic and the roaring winds. He tackled a SeeD that was in a duel against Quistis, kicking him as hard as he could in the side of the head. He didn't even look back to see if the SeeD was dead. All that mattered was getting to the cliffs. All that mattered was their safety.

When they reached the lip of the cliff, the descent looked rather dizzying. It wasn't a sheer drop, but it was a long way down. They were so close to the water that they could feel the salty mists in the air, cold and refreshing compared to the hot and dry desert air.

"We're almost there!" Quistis urged with a grim smile of determination on her cracked lips. The smile faltered when she looked at Seifer. He'd pulled Hyperion off his back, and was looking over his shoulder to where Bahamut was attacking Ifrit to get the fire demon off Shiva. Through the dying winds, they could see the hulking shadow of a vehicle coming towards them. Somehow, they all knew that Xu was on board. That this was the end of the line.

"Come on!" She hissed. Diablos started to retreat from the Summon battle towards his mistress.

"You two run. Get down to the water, and swim like your life depended on it. Stay underwater for as long as you can without taking air. The water will act as a magical barrier. They won't be able to target spells at you."

Quistis furrowed her brow. "But, Seifer..."

"You'll never make it unless there's a distraction. I can draw their eyes away."

"...no," Squall whispered quietly. When he met Seifer's peridot green gaze, his heart lurched so painfully it felt like a heart attack. "No," he repeated more firmly. An order.

"Go."

"NO!" Squall shouted, reaching out to grab Seifer's forearm, holding it in a vice-like, desperate grip. If he didn't let go, Seifer wouldn't leave him.

"Kupo," Serino peeped quietly. The colour change in Seifer's aura just then

"Just hurry!" Seifer urged desperately, his voice breaking as he looked at the two of them. He quickly looked over his shoulder. The armoured truck was now in plain sight. Xu was perched behind a large metal shield, shouting commands over her megaphone. Nida was beside her, and as they got closer, Quistis had to bite her lip in fury. He had his gun out, and was pointing it at them. It wasn't a long range gun, but they were getting closer and closer. Soon, he'd be able to take a shot. "Please, go!" Seifer pleaded.

"No!" Squall whispered. He was holding his lover so tightly now that it hurt his fingers. "I won't leave you!"

"Come on!" Quistis moaned. She could now see Nida and Xu's faces clearly, and even Astor and Luchia in the cab of the truck, the latter behind the wheel. Nida was aiming now. She was pulling on Squall's arm, reaching out for Seifer so she could try and drag him along, too. Even though she knew what he was going to do, she wouldn't let him without a fight. She couldn't lose him. Seifer and Squall were her family. She couldn't lose them!

Seifer reached up and touched the side of Squall's face, stroking the line of his fair cheekbone. That feather-light touch was so quick and yet so much more intimate than any kiss. Seifer's eyes brimmed with tears as he studied Quistis, and all her fierce loveliness. Her full mouth and eyes bright with wisdom, even if she didn't always see it in herself. Then, Squall's beautiful face. A tear escaped and trailed down Seifer's cheek as he committed every plane and line to memory, wanting to stare at him forever - even as he was thrusting out with his hands and pushing them off the edge of the bluff. Just as his hands made contact with their chests and shoved with all his might, a flurry of gunfire rang out over the sound of the armoured truck's engine. As Squall and Quistis lost their footing and started to fall backwards, the bullets hit Seifer in the back, his body falling forward. Blood arced through the air as Seifer crashed into them, causing them to fall faster.

"SEIFER!" Squall screamed, feeling droplets of blood land on his face, burning him like fire. He hit the sandy ground hard, body flipping over and over as he rolled down the hill, sometimes crashing into Quistis, dimly aware that he was still screaming Seifer's name, calling to him, begging him... You can't leave me, a small voice inside him pleaded to Seifer. You promised you wouldn't. You can't leave me!! The voice cried and screamed, echoing in his brain even as he felt himself go cold from within, his body shutting down to protect from the pain. He could hear Bahamut making an unholy noise, a high-pitched screech that rattled everything. He was screaming, making the same noise that Squall's heart would be making if his mind would've allowed it. Something hard and metal smashed into his elbow, and he felt blood, but it was nothing compared to the blood on his face. Seifer's blood.

Bahamut screamed in agony, his slate blue body zooming towards the armoured truck, where Xu's laughter could be heard echoing through the megaphone. He'd lost another of the Dragoon bloodline. He'd lost her son. It felt like he was losing Dinara all over again. Bahamut could hear Doomtrain's whistle blowing, getting closer and closer, but his anger made him reckless. He could feel his connection with Seifer wavering, weakening. One of the humans in the truck got out from behind the wheel. A man. He started to move towards Seifer, and Bahamut immediately changed course to get to his master. But, before he could, Doomtrain slammed into the side of him, so hard that it caused this form to explode in a shower of magical sparks. He had to vanish to the ethereal realm where Summons had their true power, and leave his mistress's only surviving child to die.

"You cunt," Quistis hissed under her breath. Even down near the coast, with the waves lapping against the rocks, she could hear Xu's laughter echoing. "You stupid bitch. You bitch, you bitch," she breathed over and over, even as she was rising to her feet. She was sure she'd sprained her wrist on the way down, and she could feel blood going down under the collar of her parka. "I'll kill you for this," she whispered, knowing in that moment she meant both Xu and Nida. He'd shot Seifer right in the back... some of his blood was splattered in Quistis's hair, still wet. "I'll get you for this," she hissed through clenched teeth, grabbing Squall by the armpits to hoist him to his feet. "I'll kill you, you bitch. Both of you." In that moment, she knew that if given the chance, she'd kill Nida, too. Deep down, she'd been hoping that he might be working undercover to bring Xu down, but he'd shot Seifer so coldly in the back, his face void of anything... "Come on Squall," she commanded, her voice only rising just a touch over a whisper. "We have to swim."

Squall just stay there on his knees, looking down at the metal thing that had smashed into him on the way down. Seifer's gunblade.

"Kupoooo!" Serino moaned. "GF coming!" He shivered. "Hurry, kupo!"

Quistis would have liked nothing more than to have followed Squall's lead and collapsed right there. What did it matter if they got caught now? But, Seifer wouldn't have wanted that. "Come on, Squall! On your feet, soldier!"

Squall's hand closed around the hilt of Hyperion. It still felt warm from Seifer's grip.

"Hurry, Squall!" Shiva's voice called. She'd gone to the water, and it restored her health. Around her feet, the surface iced up. Her voice sounded stuffy and faraway, her glassy lips trembling. There were tracks of tears frozen on her cheeks, and she looked see-through. "We must go!"

"Why?" Squall demanded coldly, holding Hyperion tighter.

"Because my first priority is your safety!" Shiva stated icily. "Just like it was for Seifer."

"Come onnnnn!" Quistis urged, pulling Squall up by the armpits with all her might. Diablos's bats came streaming down the hill, collecting Quistis, Serino and Squall in the black cloud. It lifted them like a jet stream and hurried them towards the water.

"Squall, you have to swim!" Quistis urged, shaking her head when he just stood there, looking down at Hyperion. "Seifer gave his life to save you! Don't repay him by throwing away his sacrifice!" She shouted, gripping his shoulders and shaking hard. The engine of the truck was getting closer. Xu was shouting again, urging the SeeD to find them, to kill them.

"Get in the water!" A voice shouted all around them. It caused the waves to rise, and the surf to churn. "Quickly, pleassssse!"

"Leviathan..." Quistis trailed off. She pulled out her whip and cracked it, ignoring the pain in her wrist.

"He means no harm!" Shiva urged, hurriedly looking up to the bluff. "COME ON!" She grabbed Squall in her icy embrace and brought him into the water, pushing him under the surface. Quistis dove down under him, clutching Serino to her chest, telling him to hold his breath. Diablos's bats followed, swirling around her like a comforting hug.

Leviathan swept up underneath them, Shiva and Diablos's bats holding Squall and Quistis against the slippery surface of the serpent's back. Quistis knew that Diablos would never let her go with a GF whose master meant her harm, but still... could they trust Leviathan? He was being controlled by Irvine, after all. Going at this speed, Leviathan had to break the surface so Squall and Quistis could be above the slipstream. Their human bodies just couldn't handle water going past them that fast. Serino was shivering against Quistis's bosom, his snowy white fur splattered with droplets of red. She held the moogle tighter, looking over her shoulder towards the cliffs. Where we left Seifer behind... Xu and the SeeD should have been able to see them from here. They were right out in the middle of open water. Quistis felt a warmth tingling through her extremities, comforting and welcoming. She looked down at Serino, wondering if he was using some kind of faerie magic to cloak them from their enemies.

Squall didn't even notice when they broke water. It was only reflex that made him breathe. What was even the point of breathing now that Seifer was gone? He could still feel Seifer's finger stroking his cheek. It made his breath come out shakily, and the world became blurry through his tears as a crack in the encroaching ice within him started to appear. His hands tightened around the hilt of Hyperion, and he willed all that pain to go deep down inside him. It was easy, actually. He had so much practice repressing his feelings. He would just have to work a little harder now, repress much more. Repress everything.

"Serino, I think your magic's working!" Quistis exclaimed, trying to be cheerful. But, her voice cracked and wavered with her internal agony.

"Kupo, it's not me," Serino mumbled into her chest, still shaking.

"It isn't faerie," Diablos's voice murmured in her mind, coming from within the clouds of bats.

Leviathan was starting to slow down, Minde island now a large shadow on the horizon. It was a small island covered by rocky terrain and grubby grassland. It had once been a watch station for Adel's forces, but now it was used as a weather terminal, and part of the island housed a bird sanctuary for the endangered orange-cheeked Estharian sparrow. Quistis knew that because Seifer had told them. He would have liked to have come here to see the small songbirds. She wanted to weep and scream and rip Xu and Nida apart with her bare hands, but she didn't. She bit back her sobs. Squall needed her strong right now. She couldn't fall apart just yet. They still weren't safe. The warm, loving magic was getting stronger, like a pulse. A heartbeat that matched her own. She looked down as Serino flew out of her arms, and went straight to Squall. She then realized that he wasn't shivering from the water, or the nearness of Leviathan's magic, or even this other alien magic that was like a beacon. It was because Seifer was gone, and the moogle wanted to be near Squall and be with him to grieve.

Leviathan pulled up alongside the rocky shore of the small island, triangular snake's head breaking the water's surface. "Follow the magical beacon. A vehicle will be waiting to take you to Esthar."

"How can we trust you?" Quistis asked, the bats roiling away from her and Squall, becoming Diablos's demon form again.

Leviathan just looked at them, and dove under the water. They could see his massive shadow underneath the waves, swimming back towards the Kashkabald.

"I guess we have no choice," Quistis muttered, hands balling at her fists. She suddenly felt so lost. Seifer was the one who knew where he was going. Seifer was the one who'd given them the confidence that they were actually going to make it this far. Seifer had been their strength and hope, and now he was gone. Even if he hadn't died instantly, he would soon be dead. Either from his injuries, or by Xu's hand. No she'd probably think it beneath her to deal with Seifer. She'd always hated him and thought him unworthy to be SeeD. She'd probably get Astor or Luchia, or even Nida now, to try and pump Seifer for information about where Quistis and Squall were now, and then just kill him when he wouldn't break.

"This way..." Quistis trailed off. She took Squall's hand and started leading him like a child. He wrenched his hand away, and walked beside her, back straight, face emotionless and staring straight ahead. Just like the old Squall, but so much more horrible because Quistis knew what he was feeling, deep down under all that robotic chill. Or, maybe she didn't... She'd never shared that kind of love with someone else. She'd thought it might be Nida, but not now. Not now.

"Just up ahead," Shiva noted. She was floating along ahead of them, her voice shaking, her eyes nearly white from the frozen tears filling them. Squall's emotions were showing more through her than through himself. There were a couple of hairline cracks along her chest and torso, like she was falling apart at the seams. Like she was going to shatter into a million pieces to never be remade.

They could see a figure ahead, standing by a Galbadian model utility vehicle. Gentle light was coming from them, beckoning Squall and Quistis forward. When they got close enough to see who it was, Diablos snarled, his wings furling back, claws curled.

"Wait!" Rinoa cried, holding her hands up to show she wasn't armed. Diablos, this close to her, had sensed Alexander slumbering within her. The demon and the holy machine had no love for each other.

"Rinoa...?" Quistis trailed off, still feeling the warm magic inside her. She realized now that it was Rinoa's own heartbeat she was feeling, in time with her own. "What are you doing here?" She demanded harshly, fire magic charging in her fists.

"Waiting for you," the dark-haired woman answered. She was dressed as simply as Quistis had ever seen her. Hair pulled back in a ponytail, no make-up, old jeans and a black flap jacket. It looked quite big on her, and was decorated with bars of high rank. It must have belonged to General Caraway once. She looked to Squall and Quistis, overjoyed that they were okay and alive. It came through in her magic, and gave the other two a huge swell of warmth.

Rinoa's mouth fell into a little surprised 'o' when she saw Serino sitting on Squall's shoulder, face pressed into the curve of Squall's neck. "Moogle..." She trailed off, but then collected herself when she noticed a large absence. "Wh... where's Seifer?"

Quistis took her breath in like she'd been slapped, and Squall just kept staring straight ahead. Like he was looking right through Rinoa. Like his mind wasn't there. Like he was dead.

Rinoa looked at her feet and shook her head. Seifer always seemed like one of those people who would live forever. That he could survive anything. Rinoa slowly looked up into Squall's face. She knew him well enough to see the agony lying deep underneath his cold eyes. She felt like she should say something, but all words would have been hollow. She knew, because that horrible loss had festered inside her too, after the death of her mother. She could feel tears coming to her eyes, but ignored them. She'd been so weak for so long... she had to be strong now.

"Come on," she said, voice braver than she felt. "They'll figure out you came this way. Until you're with Laguna, you're not safe."

"Why should we trust you?" Quistis demanded, taking a step back when Rinoa reached for her arm. Her whip was suddenly in her hand.

The Sorceress supposed she deserved this hostility. After all, she hadn't believed in her friends. She hadn't believed in Quistis for so long... "I just want to make things right," she whispered, her warm brown eyes pleading with Quistis's cobalt ones.

"We don't have a choice," Squall said hollowly, moving towards the car. Squall's eyes slid over to Rinoa for a fraction of a second as he passed her. It was impossible for her to read his gaze. The moogle looked over his shoulder at her, making a quizzical little chirping noise. This young woman that Quistis called 'Rinoa' seemed so alien to him with her body filled with magic.

Quistis stood where she was for a few moments, but realized that Squall was right. With a squaring of her shoulders, she followed him. Rinoa slipped behind the wheel of the army truck, and hit the gas even before Quistis's door was closed all the way. The silence within the truck was tense and ugly. The mistrust coming off Squall and Quistis was thick, and Rinoa found it hard to concentrate on driving over the rough terrain, and keep both a physical and magical eye out for Garden.

Rinoa gasped when she heard Alexander's voice in her mind. She was so keyed up that even his familiarity had shocked her. Rinoa, from the air.

"You have enough strength to cast some magical barriers?" Rinoa asked of her passengers. "Alex says there's something coming from the sky." Their truck bounced dangerously as they crossed the wooden bridge connecting Minde Island with the Abadan Plains of Esthar proper. Almost there

Quistis narrowed her eyes. Diablos hadn't mentioned anything within her. But, then she felt it. Something big and magical coming towards them. She charged some blue magic in her hands, and shot a quick look to Squall in the back. He was in no mental condition to cast magic on himself right now, so she used Mighty Guard to protect both of them. Rinoa's skin started to glow, gently at first and then so bright that Quistis had to look away. The high-pitched, deathly whine of Doomtrain's whistle could be heard.

"Oh, Selphie..." Rinoa trailed off sadly, her eyes looking like black coal against the white of her glowing skin. Suddenly, the sky was alight like there'd been a great explosion, and through the white, the silhouette of a city-sized machine could be seen, wings sprouting from its hulking back. There was no physical sound from the cannon that Alexander fired at Doomtrain, but it could be felt in the ground. Rinoa had to concentrate hard on keeping their truck upright, and Quistis had to clutch her chest because the magic felt like a punch. Serino squawked and started murmuring under his breath to throw up some more protective shields around himself.

Rinoa could feel Doomtrain's counterattack, like black poison seeping into her ethereal plane. She wedged her boot down on the accelerator, swerving to avoid a streaking lightning bolt crashing from the sky. Quetzacoatl had joined the fight.

"Shit!" Quistis hissed. Quistis rolled down the window and hoisted herself half-out of it, firing ray bombs towards the GF.

"It's Luchia!" Rinoa shouted over the din. "But, she's far away. She sent her GF ahead as a scout!"

Bats flew out of Quistis's body and streamed towards Quetzacoatl. Rinoa groaned and had to grip the steering wheel tight when she felt Alexander take a hefty blow. Right now, she had to concentrate on keeping barriers up around them. If Doomtrain landed a successful blow against them, they'd be incapacitated.

Suddenly there was a loud scream filling the sky, rattling both the physical and the psychic. A large figure streaked towards the battle between Alexander and Doomtrain, and slammed right into the train. Doomtrain made a horrible metallic crunching noise, and then was engulfed in the red-hot fire that was streaking from Bahamut's mouth. The dragon then caught Doomtrain's front car in his claws. The metallic screech was near deafening when the dragon king tore Doomtrain apart. Alexander concentrated a holy cannon on the caboose, and together they caused a massive implosion in which Doomtrain was engulfed, sent back to the Summoning dimension.

Go on ahead

, Alexander urged his Sorceress. I will come to you.

"Quisty, hang on!" Rinoa shouted, making the truck go as fast as it could. To find their location, Rinoa was using a small homing device that Irvine had given her. He said he used it to track Fujin's position. Rinoa didn't know why he'd be tracking the silver-haired woman, but hadn't asked. Somehow, she knew the reason was more ominous than stalking a woman he'd slept with.

Squall looked up and watched as they drove away from Bahamut, who was now concentrating all his fury on Quetzacoatl. Lightning crackled in amongst the clouds, and a bolt shot out towards their vehicle. Rinoa cried out as it hit the truck. She was shielding them, so took the majority of the attack. The truck swerved so sharply that the three of them were flung around within like rag dolls. Rinoa's forehead slammed against the steering wheel, and the passenger window cracked and shattered when the crown of Quistis's head punched right through it. Squall's neck was snapped back and he was flung to the side where his shoulder slammed against unforgiving metal. Instinctively, he pressed Serino into his chest and curled around him to protect the moogle. He could hear Quistis or Rinoa scream as the truck started to flip over. He wondered if they would die here. The thought wasn't that unpleasant. He'd get to be with Seifer again...

Before the truck could flip, hundreds and hundreds of bats swarmed around it, pushing the truck upright, enveloping them in high frequency squealing.

"Diablos..." Quistis trailed off, blood running down her temple. Her vision was grey, and she felt like she was going to pass out.

Rinoa shook her head, seeing double. "Oh, Hyne..." She groaned, immediately looking at the homing device. "If we can just get a little closer...!" She pressed down on the accelerator again. The truck's engine made a scary noise of protest, but she gunned it anyway. She needed to be closer to teleport four beings. She'd never teleported more than just herself, and even that was challenging to a fledgling Sorceress like her, but she had to try or they were going to die. She could feel Alexander getting weaker, and a new magical form had come within range. Siren, followed by a much larger, darker one. "Oh, fuck..." Rinoa trailed off.

Quistis immediately looked over to Rinoa. She rarely ever swore, so something must have been seriously wrong. "What?" She demanded.

"Eden," Rinoa groaned, her chest burning. There was black smoke starting to come out from under the crumpled hood of the truck, but Rinoa didn't let up. Not even when the vehicle started vibrating like it was going to fall apart any second. Not even for the intense pain stretching through her veins from Eden's approach.

"Eden?!" Quistis echoed fearfully. "Xu, you bitch." Xu's natural GF had always been, like Zell, Ifrit. But, the fact that Eden wasn't just blowing up everything within a 20 mile radius meant that someone had been training with the dangerous GF, and Quistis knew it was Xu. Only she would be greedy enough in her current mental state to put herself through trying to be compatible with that... monstrosity.

Rinoa was struggling to breathe with Eden so near. Adel's magical scientists had created Eden from the blackest places of magic, not only raping Bahamut's power, but also the power of a monster such as Ultima Weapon, and even the magic that the earth held naturally. It was a magical abomination, like Adel herself had been. This horrible pain in her chest was the same as when she'd been briefly joined to the tyrannical Estharian Sorceress. "Come on," she urged the truck. The black smoke was so thick she couldn't see where she was going. "Come on. Please, please, please, please..."

"Oh, God!" Quistis spun around in her seat, the world briefly going upside down because of her probable concussion. She could see an impossibly bright beam of light streaking towards them, unearthly sigils burning into the parched ground. "Rinoa, hurry!" She reached out and gripped the other woman's shoulder, tasting her terrified heartbeat.

Rinoa was silently praying to Alexander, to Hyne, to any god or goddess she could think of. The truck was sputtering, and she was sure she'd seen flames licking up from under the hood, illuminating all that black, thick smoke. They were slowing down, even though the pedal was right to the floor. Then, she felt it. A tug inside her that told her she was close enough. She felt for Squall, Quistis and the little moogle's auras, and sucked them within herself, the same way Edea had taught her to suck in her own aura and let it become one with all that power deep inside her. In the blink of an eye, they were elsewhere. Rinoa let out a great gasp of breath, sinking to her knees. Teleporting that many people had completely sapped all her energy.

Quistis had also fallen to her knees, her concussion getting the better of her. When everything wasn't spinning anymore, she looked around and saw they were maybe a hundred meters away from a squat, plain grey group of buildings. In the far distance, Esthar's suburbs glittered and glowed like alien jewels.

"Thank... Hyne..." Rinoa sputtered, struggling to her feet. She reached out for any kind of leverage to help her up, and wound up holding onto Squall's wrist. She hoisted herself up, bumping into him from dizziness. Standing this close to him and feeling his warmth felt so familiar, like she'd stepped back in time.

"We should get out of sight," Quistis noted, standing. She tried to take a couple of steps, but fell to her knees again. She cast a few cure spells on all of them, enough to get to the building cluster ahead. "Wh... what about Diablos...?"

"He'll find us," Rinoa answered with surety, slowly stepping away from Squall. Once upon a time, she would have clung to him desperately at a time like this. Before Seifer. But, it wasn't even Seifer. It was them. They'd been over for so long, and Rinoa finally saw it now. She'd been clinging to a relationship that hadn't actually really existed. She saw Quistis stumble again and rushed to her, gripping her elbow to help the taller woman to her feet.

"I'm fine," she ground out, pulling her arm out of Rinoa's gentle grip.

"I'm just trying to help..."

The coldness in Quistis's eyes melted just a fraction, but she still held the anger. She was too tired and sore and heartbroken to forgive Rinoa right now. It still hurt, the feeling of betrayal. Especially after losing someone whose faith in her hadn't wavered even for a second. The sense of loss was crippling, and Quistis had to cover her mouth to hold back a sob.

When the group silently came to the main building of the compound and started to climb the blocky cement steps to the main entrance, the doors were opened by two heavily armed Estharian soldiers.

"Inform the President," one murmured to the other, voice muffled by his full facemask. "Lady Rinoa." He bowed low to her, his gun now pointed at the floor. His face then turned to the moogle that was now hovering mid-air, purple wings beating. He made a small, muted noise of surprise.

"Alert a doctor, please!" Rinoa called to the retreating guard. She felt herself pass through a magical barrier, sucking the energy right out of her like a vacuum.

"At once, My Lady!" He bowed and continued up the hallway.

"Oh my God, ya know?!" Raijin came running down the hall, Fujin just behind him. "We were watching from the guard room, ya know?! You're okay!" He caught Quistis in a tight and painful bear hug, but she was so numb that the pain wasn't registering right now.

"SAFE," Fujin murmured, relief softening the hard edge of her voice. She gently squeezed Quistis's shoulder, which from Fujin was like a big gleeful hug and kiss. The silver-haired woman then looked at Squall and Rinoa, and noticed the face she most wanted to see wasn't there. "SEIFER?" She asked sharply, looking at Quistis. His name made Squall flinch.

The only answer Quistis could muster was a small shake of her head, eyes looking at her shoes. She couldn't meet Fujin's lone russet eye and tell her Seifer was dead.

Fujin's head snapped up, and her single eye bore into Squall. She saw him holding Hyperion... "You did this," she whispered, stalking over to him. She glared into his face, and he had to look away. "YOU DID THIS!" She screamed, hauling off and backhanding him. Her hand cracked loudly against his cheek. "YOUR FAULT!" She screamed, hitting him again, this time with a closed fist.

"Fujin!" Rinoa exclaimed, trying to pull the other woman off Squall, but Fujin shoved her aside so hard that she banged into the wall. It knocked the wind out of her, and she slid down onto her bottom.

"Miss, please!" The remaining soldier coaxed, also trying to pull her away.

"YOU KILLED HIM! IT'S YOUR FAULT!" She bellowed, attacking Squall with everything she had. He didn't raise a hand to defend himself. Her words were bullets and knives, but they were the utter truth. He did kill Seifer. If he hadn't called Seifer for help, he would still be here. Seifer wouldn't have died for him. He could feel heat welling in him - that pain he couldn't let himself feel. But, it was cracking at the protective ice inside him, and he felt tears starting to stab at the back of his eyes.

"Fujin, stop!" Raijin said, getting his arms around his raging friend. "STOP!" He shouted in her face, finally yanking her away from Squall.

"HE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!" Fujin shouted at the top of her lungs, slashing at Raijin with her nails, trying to get through him so she could assault Squall once more.

Raijin shoved her off him as hard as he could, sending Fujin sprawling down the hall. The soldier then was on top of her, trying to restrain her as she screamed obscenities at Squall.

"You okay, ya know?!" He asked gently of Rinoa, offering her a hand up.

"Yes," she murmured, rubbing her forehead. She accepted Raijin's grasp, and was lifted up as if she were a toy. Her hand fit easily into his much bigger one, her skin snowy white compared to the dark reddish tone of his. "Don't worry about me," she assured him bravely.

Raijin nodded and then looked at Squall, but didn't apologize for Fujin's behaviour. Though he didn't scream and rant, Squall could see the accusation there, too. That Raijin blamed him as well. The big, burly man turned his back on them, and went to help the guard get control of Fujin.

"Squall?!" A voice called from down the hallway. It was echoed by a lighter, breathier voice. Edea.

"Dad...?" Squall murmured, another crack forming inside him. The sound of Laguna's voice made his lower lip tremble for a brief moment before he could control it.

"SQUALL!" Laguna called, coming into view. He was running, and when he saw his child, tears filled his aquamarine eyes. He pushed past Raijin and the guard and went straight to Squall, holding him as tight as he could. Squall was stiff in the embrace like he usually was in hugs. But, this time he really wanted to hug Laguna back. He wanted to be held by his father so much at that moment, but he couldn't let himself. He couldn't let himself feel the relief of Laguna's embrace, where he felt so safe and knew that Laguna didn't hate him for the way he'd behaved last time they were together. If he allowed himself that, he would have to let out his grief. And, he couldn't. He couldn't. He knew that if he let himself feel all that horror that was festering in a tiny little ball within him, pressed down by layers of emotional ice, it would kill him. Having to mourn Seifer was something he wasn't capable of handling.

Laguna pulled away only enough so he could cup Squall's face in his hands - so much like Raine's. Except for that horrible blank look in his eyes. He looked at Quistis, who was now allowing Rinoa to help her, but was visibly unhappy with the other woman. And, he looked at the moogle who was looking back at him.

"Where did you come from, little guy?" He asked in wonder. The moogle's pure white fur was marred by smeared drops of blood. Quistis and Squall were also covered in blood, old and new.

"Squall, where's Seifer?" Edea asked. However, the strained tone of her voice told she already knew the answer.

Squall took a large step back from Laguna, and looked at the floor with his arms crossed protectively over his chest. However, Laguna had seen the brief flash of emotion in Squall's eyes before they'd turned away. Squall's mouth opened like he was trying to answer, but couldn't. Not in front of Matron. How could he say it? It would make it true. It would make it real.

"Dead," Quistis muttered bitterly, warring with the desire to break down and cry. "They killed him. Our so-called friends killed him." She slapped Rinoa's hands away and stood under her own power.

Laguna pursed his lips, but his eyes never wavered from Squall's face. "You're hurt..." He murmured, reaching out to hug Squall again.

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing," Laguna protested. "Tiernan's here, and he'll have a look at your injuries." He stroked a few locks of dirty, bloodstained hair off Squall's forehead.

Squall craned away, the world growing more distant to him with each passing minute. Laguna and Quistis's voices were just white noise. "Unless Tiernan can raise the dead, there's nothing he can do to fix me."

----

After Tiernan had tended to her injuries, Quistis had been given a very nice room to rest in. It must have been for senior officers or diplomatic guests. There was a nurse on call to come and check up on her concussion, but for now, she was alone. It felt weird. She'd been with Squall and Seifer constantly for the past two months. Two months... Had it really been that long? She wanted Squall with her desperately right now, but he was slipping away from even her. He'd wandered off somewhere to be alone. Will you let yourself mourn if you are alone? She asked him internally.

As she stripped off her dirty, ruined clothes, she knew that he wouldn't. He was terrified of what he would feel. Maybe Quistis was, too. She was trying to hold it together and be strong for Squall's sake. If he saw her break down, it might send him over the edge. Everything in her, physical and emotional, ached. It ached. Seifer was gone. Splatters of his blood were still on her skin. Nida was the one who'd shot him down. He'd sided himself with Quistis's former best friend. A woman she'd loved like her own sister. A woman who was now hunting them like dogs, who'd turned the entire world against them, who'd actually raised compatibility with Eden just to hold onto whatever dreams of power she had. With Eden! She'd allied herself with a monster, and in doing so, become one herself.

Quistis slowly shuffled naked into the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub while she started to run a bath. She'd junctioned Eden briefly when they'd first discovered the GF under Esthar's floating research island. She could still remember the feeling of junctioning Eden. A distant sick feeling, like she'd swallowed drain cleaner or rat poison. Like she'd eaten glass, and had just the briefest peek of Hell. Voices gently whispering in her ear that sounded musical on the surface, but had the undercurrent of off-key violas and rusty razor blades pulled across violin strings - screeching and bone-chilling. And, all this had only been after a few days, not to mention at zero compatibility, and sharing herself among other GF, including her faithful demon, whose high compatibility had acted like a protective shield.

Diablos had warned her of what Eden was doing to her body, how it was polluting her. When she'd shared this information with the others, they'd agreed to not junction Eden at all until more research could be done. And, after they'd found out about Esthar's studies into long-term junction of their abomination... well, there was no way any of them would have let themselves near Eden again. In the texts of the obscure religion of Christianity, they talked of a Garden of Eden, a paradise. It seemed poetic that Garden students should possess such a being, but this Garden had more been like a center for unearthly hell.

And, now Xu was willingly binding herself. Quistis was sure, even without physical proof. What had become of her? Quistis sighed sadly and got under the hard stream of water. She turned the water hotter when she still felt cold. She worried about Xu's mental safety, even now. Even when she had no more cause to care. The stream made her cuts and bruises sting, but she didn't feel it. What were a few cuts and bruises compared to real pain? The pain of betrayal. Gods, Nida... what have you done? WHY? She pounded the tiled shower wall with a fist she didn't even realize she'd clenched. "Why did you kill him?!" She shouted, voice echoing in the cramped, wet space. She started crying, still slamming the tiles with her fists. The sobs let out all her pain and anger, shudders consuming her entire body. "I loved you!" She shouted, not knowing who she meant anymore. So many that she'd loved had turned their backs on her. Xu. Nida. Selphie. Zell. Rinoa. Even Seifer. He'd left her. He'd left them. "Seifer..." She moaned. "What should I do?" She couldn't see through the tears, and the skin on her knuckles was split open, the water swirling around her feet tinted pink from blood. Mingling with the blood that had been on her skin. Seifer's blood...

The painful sobs turned into a long scream of agony. She'd never expected that she could make such a noise, something so inhuman and horrible. It burned her throat and lungs, but it wouldn't stop coming out. The sound bounced off the shower tiles and rang in her ears. She screamed and screamed, falling to her knees with the water pounding her back, fists still meekly punching the walls. She sobbed and screamed and tried to gasp for air, forehead now pressed against the blood smeared tiles.

She felt warm arms come around her from behind, holding her tightly against now-wet clothing. Small, delicate hands covered her bloody fists and pulled them away from the tiles, a soothing voice whispering into her wet hair. "I've got you," the voice assured. "I've got you."

Quistis moaned and sobbed, the water raining down on her and Rinoa, who'd heard Quistis's screams from out in the hallway just outside her room. She'd been pacing in the hall, trying to practice an apology, something she could say that would start to repair the relationship she'd broken. Now, apologies and regret weren't important. What was important was just being there with her, holding Quistis in her arms. She'd pulled back the shower curtain so hard that some of the rings had torn through the vinyl sheet, and had gotten in under the hot stream of water, clothes and boots and all, and held Quistis's naked, bruised body tightly against her own. "I've got you," she repeated. She never said 'it's okay' or 'you're safe', because neither were true.

Quistis struggled and warred against the embrace, still trying to punch whatever her fists could come in contact with. She moaned and sobbed and cursed against Rinoa's warm, nearly parental touch. She cursed a world that would take her friends, her reputation, her everything from her, and leave her like a weeping, raw wound. A world that could take Seifer away from her and Squall.

---

"Squall, maybe you should have Tiernan give you something... just to help you rest." Laguna was sitting on the edge of a table in the guards' watch room, open magazines and a deck of cards strewn about amongst empty paper coffee cups and crumpled cellophane wrappers from cigarette packs. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and collect his son against his chest and hold him the way he'd wanted to all during the childhood that he'd been absent for. But, he didn't. Squall had already lashed out at him for it, and his body language was even more unapproachable now. His shoulders were hunched so far forward that he looked like a folded piece of paper. And, he also wasn't letting go of Hyperion. Laguna thought Squall might have actually used it when Ellone tried to pull it out of his iron grasp.

"Or, at least eat something!" Ellone urged. She was standing a little closer to her adoptive brother, but still didn't touch him. Even Serino was leaving him alone, instead sitting on the table beside Laguna, staring at Squall sadly. Even with all these strange and new humans and their equally strange and new surroundings, his heart couldn't muster curiosity. But, he did see that Squall's father and sister loved him, and he loved them back, but couldn't let himself find sanctuary in their presence. He was terrified of letting any emotion in. His aura was all steel and brick and invincible shields. He couldn't let their love in, because he'd have to let in the grief, the guilt, rage and sorrow. And, he was terrified of it all. Terrified to let himself come to know a world without Seifer, because that knowledge might not kill him, but it could possibly bring him back as something other than Squall. Just in looking at Squall now, Serino was learning the true frailty and complexity and confusion of human emotions.

Squall stared out the window, looking down at the steps leading up to the main doors. He looked down at Shiva, who was looking back up at him. She couldn't come into the building with him because of the magical shields, so she and the other GF were waiting outside like soldiers. They'd shrunk into human guises because it nearly completely hid their gargantuan magical auras. Squall had seen his GF in a human disguise before, and normally she had cinnamon coloured skin and dark, lipid eyes that were more black than brown, but now she was parchment white, paler than even his own skin. Her eyes were drained of colour, and she almost looked like an albino. Even in this human mask, the strain of Squall's emotion through their deep connection was showing on her. She didn't look out towards the horizons like the other fake humans. She only had eyes for her suffering master.

Rinoa had been correct, Squall noted, that Diablos would find his way back. Diablos's human form was that of a painfully lovely, willowy man with long, silken black hair tucked behind elf-like, pointed ears, always wearing extremely old-fashioned clothing. Lots of crushed velvet coats, buckled boots and lace cuffs and cravats and looking very much like how people thought a faerie should look. He stood next to a man that Squall figured must have been Alexander. Parts of Alexander's flesh winked in the blue light that came from nearly everywhere in Esthar. Places where the robotic machinery showed through his fake flesh. His hair was pure, virgin white and curled down over his shoulders. He and Diablos stood shoulder-to-shoulder, looking out over the horizon, watching for any intruders - human or magical.

But, Squall wasn't paying them mind. He wasn't even paying much attention to Shiva. He was looking at Bahamut. The only GF that hadn't switched to human form. He'd shrunk himself down until he was the size of a wolf or large dog, but he was still a slate blue dragon, sitting away from the others and perched on the low roof over the parking garage area of the main building. He looked out to the horizon, but not for possible Garden hounds. He was looking for the same thing that Squall was. Was Bahamut also expecting that Seifer would somehow saunter across the parched plains, a typical Seifer grin on his face, mildly offended that they didn't believe he was perfectly fine? He'd impatiently ask for Hyperion back, and Squall would have to pull that typical romance novel thing where he'd punch Seifer's lights out, then collapse into his arms. Was Bahamut also hoping for the impossible?

Squall could hear Laguna, Serino and Ellone's voices, but not what they were saying. They were white noise. They were on another planet. He didn't want to hear any voices. Not even Quisty. How could he look into Quistis's eyes, knowing that he was the reason Seifer was dead? How could he face her? His attention was caught by a snarl from Bahamut, loud enough that he could hear it even in the guards' room. The dragon flew towards a lonely figure walking towards the buildings. A man with a long and graceful stride, with a shadow that seemed to stretch on forever.

It was the shadow that tore Squall from the window. He pushed the door open with enough force that it slammed against the wall and rattled the window in it. The shadow with a flowing cape of night and proud horns. Squall took the cement stairs two and even three at a time. He flung himself out into the bright orange light of the setting sun, not diminished even by Esthar's mighty glow. "Move," he commanded Shiva when she tried to prevent him from coming outside. He drew Hyperion at the same moment that he pulled Lionheart off his back, so he wielded a gunblade in each hand.

"But, Squall..." She trailed off, nearly transparent because of Squall's sorrow. She wanted to protect him so desperately, but couldn't defy a direct order. Squall then pushed past Diablos and Alexander's human guises, and started running towards Odin, in his human form of Ivan Blackmoon. As he got closer, he could taste fire on his tongue, licking at the cold shield within. Hatred, tasting like bile and blackness. He rushed towards Odin, hate making the orange sunset red.

"Where is he?!" Squall demanded, slashing at him with Hyperion, then with his own faithful weapon. Bahamut had landed just out of Odin's reach, glowering hatefully at his human disguise.

"WHERE IS HE?!" Squall shouted again in Ivan's face. Lionheart's blade made a loud metal-on-metal squeal against Ivan's chest where there should have just been a lightweight wool sweater. The gunblades were flung out of his hands by invisible magic, landing gently on the ground and Squall's feet.

Hatred for Odin surged in Squall, and he lashed out with fists. His clenched knuckles contacted against Ivan's cheek, and he was attacking the ancient king like some wild banshee. He punched and clawed at Ivan's chest and face, but was only injuring himself. While it looked like he was punching a face and a chest, he was really punching unforgiving metal armour, and the impenetrable wall of Odin's staggering power. "WHERE'S SEIFER?!" He screamed in Ivan's face. Saying Seifer's name burned Squall's throat. Cold hands encircled his arms, like metal left out in a blizzard, trying to still his attacks, which were doing a lot of damage to the human, and none to the Guardian Force.

Odin looked into Squall's eyes, starting to shine with the rise of his suppressed emotions. "Gone. I can no longer feel him," He murmured, face showing regret at having to say that. Having to say that to Squall, the man who Seifer had such depths of love for. That man who now looked as dead as any Forbidden.

"Bring him back," Squall commanded, that emotion falling deep down into the chasms of his soul. The command was hollow, empty, pleading. Desperate.

"I cannot."

"You swore to protect him when he needed you!" Squall raged, trying to struggle in Odin's grasp.

"He chose this!" Odin stated, emotion rising into his voice. "He willingly chose to shield you with his life. Who was I to interfere with that?" His ancient, all-knowing voice cracked on the last few words.

"Bring him back!" Squall demanded again, slumping in Odin's arms as the weight of his emotions tried to engulf him. As they started to rise, Shiva became more stable and solid. The weight of Squall's emotions left her when they tried to flood within him. He willed the rage and sorrow and grief and love back behind the steel doors within his mind, heart and soul. He slammed them shut. He locked them with steel chains. He electrified their surfaces and froze them over.

"If you hurt him, I'll destroy you," Bahamut threatened to Odin. Being so close to the surviving child of La Draconia, Bahamut had felt all Seifer's feelings for Squall like an echo. Like he'd felt them once before, long ago. It was his duty now to protect his temporary master, and the most precious thing in the world to Dinara's child.

Ivan's hands suddenly constricted around Squall's arms so tightly that the brown-haired man let out a gasp. Gravely chill moved through him and made his hands numb. Odin was such a powerful GF that he didn't ever have anyone as a sole master. He came to whoever he thought was worthy of his aid. This massive power, even compared to Bahamut, made him the first to feel the blackness that was approaching like a tidal wave. His hands released Squall, and one arm came around the human's body, pressing him close into Ivan's side like a lover. No heat came from him, and Squall felt chilled with so much of his body pressed against Ivan's. Odin's famous sword suddenly appeared out of nothing, and he half-faced whatever he was feeling, while still trying to shield Squall's body with his own. Squall could only stand there like a child, knowing that he hated Odin fiercely, but not being able to feel it. He also couldn't feel what suddenly had him so spooked.

"Don't transform," Odin commanded of the other GF. His voice was metallic and echoing, inhuman coming from a human mouth. They could now all feel the wave of ugly magic, even Squall. It roiled like snakes, and choked like smoke. It became visible, and swirled together like a vortex to create the form of a human being.

The human was completely androgynous. It could have been a woman or a once-pretty man. The thin body was draped in swirling shadows that hugged him/her like cloth. The face was a macabre work of self-mutilating art. Burns and sigils carved and seared into all visible flesh. Winding knife wounds, thin and thick, neat and jagged. Old and seeping new. A metallic, horrendous crown that resembled small and child-like hands reaching for the sky was drilled into the bald forehead and temples of this wicked looking creature, cut-up mouth grinning madly, revealing not teeth, but carpenter's nails. It's breath was a death rattle that shook the ground like an earthquake. Its eyes bled into pure, evil red that was rimmed in black flesh. Its face actually somewhat resembled Adel's. As the thing stepped closer to Odin and Squall, dead and rotting flowers sprang up from the ground. They smelled strongly, but not of sweet roses or honeysuckle. They smelled of death and fresh sewage.

"Holy shit," Laguna breathed. He was being barred from going outside to Squall by the soldiers, and especially by Kiros and Edea. Even though the strong and foolproof Estharian barriers were between them, Edea could still feel this creature's power, clawing at her from within. "Let me go to him!" Laguna moaned to his best and oldest friend. He'd left Ward in control of the city proper. Normally, it would have been Kiros, but Laguna needed him here. He needed Kiros to help him, to be beside him just like he always was. He needed him to be rational and do the right, and usually hard, thing. Like he was doing right now.

"No," Kiros said firmly, blocking his much shorter friend with his lithe body. He cared for Squall as if he were family, but his top priority, aside from Tiernan, would always be Laguna and his safety. "You can't do anything against something like that."

"It feels like Adel..." Edea hissed, lowering herself to the floor.

In Quistis's rooms, where she and Rinoa were out of the shower, and the young novice was dabbing Quistis's bloodied hands with a towel, she felt it too. Smelled the heinous stench. It burned her chest and she let out a wail, eyes seeing only blackness instead of Quistis's surprised face. She wasn't strong enough yet to sustain herself against this kind of power, so it overcame her like a riptide. She could hear Quistis mutely calling her name, trying to catch her as she slipped off the edge of the tub towards the floor. She felt very large, strong and warm hands catching her, saying it was going to be okay. But, how could it be? How could anything that felt like this be okay...?

Outside, so close to the power with no barriers between them, Squall was fighting to stay conscious. He'd had to swallow vomit several times, and he couldn't feel his legs. The creature paced slowly back and forth, like it was in some invisible cage and couldn't come any farther.

"It cannot cross into Esthar's official borders," Odin murmured, blade still trained calmly on the thing.

"Someone has actually junctioned it?" Shiva asked, horrified.

The shadowy matter that flapped and coiled around Eden's false human body seemed to become nothing, and then something that actually resembled... "A SeeD uniform..." Squall breathed out. He immediately wished he'd kept his mouth shut. Parting his lips allowed that stench to enter his mouth and coat his throat. He could taste it, mingling with the burn of his own bile.

His voice caused the searchlight of its burning eyes to rest on him, bathing him in the ugliness of the creature's glare. The scarred, almost sucker-like mouth parted in a slash of a grin, carpenter's nails teeth glinting. Blackened spittle stretched between the nails like spider webs. It felt like having Adel's eyes on him again. It felt like Xu. It felt like judgement.

The mouth opened wider and wider, eyes still staring unblinkingly at Squall. A rotten looking tongue pulsated within the nails, licking across them in a lurid, perverted gesture. The mouth was now so wide that it looked like the thing's jaw had been disconnected, and something like a death rattle came out. It rolled through the ground like a nightmarish aftershock. What followed behind made Squall's blood run cold. Screaming. Pained, tortured screaming, echoing and layering and growing louder. Screaming. Screaming... screaming...

He's calling for you.

Screaming.

He's saying goodbye to you.

His

screaming. Seifer. And he was screaming. The kind of screams that no longer sounded human. Screams of so much pain that it went beyond something that word could even describe.

"It is a trick," Alexander cautioned when Bahamut let out a great, furious bellow.

Squall slammed his eyes shut, the echo of Seifer's screams ringing in his head, judging him and cursing him and blaming him. He was suddenly let go, and couldn't keep himself upright without Odin holding him, so he started to slip to the ground before Diablos rushed forward, and caught him. Diablos's touch was much warmer than Odin's, but it was nothing compared to the horrid chill coming from Eden's aura.

"Don't listen to it," Diablos whispered in Squall's ear. Things had gone black and foggy, so Squall couldn't see. He could smell something sweet and exotic coming from Diablos, just like the soothing scent that came from Serino's fur. "Seifer..." He moaned under his breath, feeling wings beating against him as Diablos became bats. A large magical wave erupted all around them, the brunt of it blocked by the bats. Squall still felt like he'd gotten kicked it the gut, but the screaming stopped. It echoed in his ears, but the source was extinguished. When the bats were gone and he was being shielded by a human-looking Diablos, Squall saw the monster was gone. Odin's blade dripped with foamy black shadows that rose to the skies as if it was steam.

"That may not have been prudent," Alexander suggested logically. His tone was neither accusatory nor respectful. Machines weren't capable of properly showing those emotions. "It's master would have been seeing through its eyes, and now knows this location."

Ivan didn't lower Zantetsuken until all the shadowy residue was gone. He did so slowly, as if striking against Eden had injured him. "It doesn't matter. It was merely a taunt, scare tactics. If Eden can't come any closer to Esthar proper than this, then no Garden force could hope to send any covert magical attack." His voice was strained, and it made rage well in Squall again. He yanked himself out of Diablos's hands and lunged for Ivan again, fingers clawed to wrap around his throat.

"You don't have any right to mourn him!" Squall shouted. He was shoved away by Diablos, who'd once again become bats. "Not when you could have saved him!" He shouted over the screech of the winged animals. I should have saved him, Squall's inner voice reminded him even as he shouted at Ivan. I was the one who called for his help. I was the one who put him in danger. I don't have the right to mourn him. I killed him.

The magical energy, compounded with his guilt and exhausting, began to finally weigh down on Squall too heavily for him to stand under. The only reason he didn't collapse was because of Diablos's human arms around him, and the sweet smell of otherworldly flowers and fruits.

"We should get him inside," Shiva murmured, gently touching the top of her master's head.

"You should fully disjunction," Diablos said to her, glittering indigo eyes narrowed.

"No," she said firmly. Even with a magical barrier between them, when a GF and a human had full compatibility, they could share a metaphysical, spiritual connection, and often kept this even when separated by thousands of miles, or even by dimensions. It wasn't harmful to the human, and it was a way to stay close to one that a GF cared deeply for. But, this connection could be harmful to a GF, at least temporarily. Squall's repression was weakening Shiva magically, but she didn't care. She wanted to take this pain for him. She wanted to stay with him.

"Are you not coming, Odin?" Alexander asked.

"No." Ivan started to walk west.

"Coward..." Squall hissed, trying to weakly struggle against Diablos's grip, so very iron strong compared to the litheness of his body.

Ivan's step didn't falter as he crossed the threshold that kept Eden out, and vanished just as it had.

"You can no longer stand!" Shiva exclaimed. "You need to get back inside."

Squall tried again to struggle out of Diablos's grasp, but his body wouldn't cooperate with his rage. He could still hear the echo of those screams in his head. Was it really a trick...? It sounded so real.

"What happened to him?!" Laguna demanded to Diablos across the magical barrier. Kiros came out to take Squall from him, still not allowing Laguna to set even a toe outside the protective shield.

"He's just exhausted. And, humans aren't meant to be so close to that much... magic." Diablos was hesitant about even using that word. What Eden was wasn't 'magic'.

Squall was still trying to feebly struggle, but he didn't even know what he was railing against anymore. Voices and touches were like someone else was experiencing them. Things slowly rolled past him, and he realized that somehow he'd wound up in a wheelchair. A hand was stroking through his hair, and people were probably saying things like 'it'll be okay' and 'you need rest, and things will be fine'. It wasn't fine. How could it be fine when Seifer didn't exist in his world anymore? How could it be fine when he'd killed the man he loved, just as if he'd pulled the trigger himself. He was just as guilty as Nida, Astor, Luchia or Xu.

His vision suddenly changed as he was lifted onto a bed, and was now staring up at a too-white ceiling. A man leaned over him, and a smile broke across Squall's parched lips. "Seifer..." He whispered to the tall blonde man bowed over him. He reached out and covered Seifer's hand with his own. Squall was so cold, and Seifer felt so warm... Seifer's mouth was moving, telling him something, opening to form words that started as white noise but became the same horrible screams that had come from Eden's maw. Squall made a small noise of distress and tried to get up, but his body had become lead.

"It's okay. I just gave you something to help you sleep," Tiernan whispered, but all Squall heard were the screams. He didn't try to correct Squall about thinking he was Seifer Almasy. Squall needed that comfort right now.

Squall's vision started to dim as the sleeping drug moved through his veins. "No..." He begged as Seifer's face began to disappear in this fog. "Don't go..."

"Can you do anything for him, Tiernan?" Laguna asked, stroking Squall's sweaty hair. The lines and tension in his face started to slowly loosen, until he wore the expressionless mask of deep sleep. Serino flew into the room and landed on the bed. He curled up against Squall's hip like a house cat.

"No," Tiernan admitted sadly. Kiros's hands were a strong, comforting weight on his shoulders. "I'm not a psychiatrist. Nothing I know how to do could help." He tore open a sterile pack of needles, and pricked into a vein on the back of Squall's hand, then began to hook it up to an IV, filled with nutrients.

"What was that thing?" Laguna asked. Edea had come into the infirmary as well, but under her own power.

"It felt like... Adel..." Edea rubbed her chest, and sat on one of the beds. They were all empty aside from Squall's.

"It was Eden," Quistis's voice answered from the doorway. She had her hands wrapped in towels, blood seeping through them.

"Eden?" Laguna echoed. "That GF thing they made under Battleship Island?"

"Yes. Eden's creation probably paved the way for many of Adel's magical experiments on herself."

"What happened?" Tiernan asked, ushering Quistis to one of the beds.

She didn't answer, but looking into her tight, sorrowful eyes gave the doctor his answer.

"Mrs. Kramer, can you help Rinoa, ya know?!" Raijin asked, also coming in. He was carrying a still-damp Rinoa in his arms. She was sweating profusely and looked kind of green, but she was awake. Raijin's room was the one next to Quistis, and he'd come back from another section of the compound to hear Rinoa's scream.

Edea sat up, but she was too shaky to stand, so Raijin put Rinoa on the same bed. She put her hands on either side of Rinoa's face and looked deep into her glassy eyes. "She's still not sure enough of her magic to hold shields up against something such as Eden. She'll just need some rest, but I'll give her a magical charge for a boost of energy."

"Mm'okay..." Rinoa mumbled.

"Hush, dear." Still touching Rinoa's face, Edea channelled a bit of her own magic into Rinoa's body. Raijin watched in fascination. He'd never seen Sorceresses sharing power before. The glassy look sucked out of Rinoa's eyes, and while she still looked wiped, she was otherwise okay.

"Thanks..." Rinoa trailed off, gnawing her lower lip. "I thought it was agreed that nobody was going to junction Eden anymore?" Rinoa questioned, running her hand through her wet hair. She looked over her shoulder at Quistis in concern.

"Xu's done so much already, what's a little more rule breaking? What does it matter if she rips apart her own soul for a little more power?" She asked dully, staring right through Tiernan as he gave her knuckles a few stitches.

"But... Eden..." Rinoa shivered. "I didn't think she'd go that far."

"I never thought she'd do any of this," whispered Quistis.

"Do you want me to... stay with you...?" Rinoa asked of the other young woman.

"No."

"You should rest. I know I will be," Edea instructed.

"All right."

"I'll go with you, just to make sure you don't collapse," Raijin offered gallantly.

"Okay," she accepted glumly. Quistis heard Rinoa say something to her in parting, but she didn't care. She just stared into nothing while Tiernan finished bandaging her up. He asked if she wanted something to help her sleep, and she just grunted as he pressed the pills into her palm. Maybe Edea or Laguna said something too, but she didn't care. She sat there, alone and silent, for a long time. Enough time for the room to get pretty dark. Out here, the lights of Esthar weren't as imposing, so dark actually meant dark.

Slowly, she stood up and shuffled over to the only other occupied bed. She could hear footsteps out in the hallway. Those kind of quiet footsteps one always hears in hospitals. Like they're trying to be respectful, even though the people they were trying to respect just wanted them to go away. Their footsteps sounded like pity. It made Quistis feel alone. She slowly crawled onto the bed beside Squall, gingerly moving the IV tube out of the way so she wouldn't lay on it. It felt like they hadn't arrived in Esthar at all, and they were still in Centra, completely removed from society.

Except that Seifer was there with us. You still had life in your eyes then. I still felt like my chest was in one piece. Nida hadn't stolen him away from us.

I'm sure your mother would have been so proud of you. Just like we are.

As Quistis's mind swirled and churned, she curled herself up against Squall's side, holding onto his waist like he was her old stuffed octopus, Mr. Ultros. She suddenly really missed the ratty old thing. He came from a life that was so long ago. She stretched her fingers across Squall's thin waist to curl them into Serino's warm and impossibly soft fur. She unfurled the other hand, and looked down at the sleeping powder capsules in her palm. She wished that they could go back in time even only a couple of days. Staying in the Almaj Mountains would have been just dandy compared to this. We could have learned all about moogles. We could have gone with Serino while he journeyed to find a mate. We could have gone to the Centra Ruins and hung out with the tonberrys. Seifer would have taught us everything. He could have stayed with dragons and learned about his mother. She popped the pills in her mouth and rubbed her cheek back and forth against Squall's chest, feeling his slow and steady heartbeat. The pills were the only thing that gave him that superficial façade of relaxation.

As Quistis let the blissful blackness grab her and pull her under to drown, the Abadan Plains were cloaked in that same dark. The monsters and animals out there could still roam free under a velvet blanket of stars. They could hunt, mate and exist far away from humans. But, one lone human was out amongst them. In the distance, the cries of a Behemoth in heat echoed through the ground. The man wearing an Estharian army uniform could feel it in his boots. He looked at a small device in his hand which was checking environmental magic energies and signatures. The ugly blackness had drawn him from a different assignment. He'd just had to come check what was churning out such power. Such familiar feeling power! Hours had passed, and the ghostly signature still held, mingling with the colder aura that Odin left behind. It was rare to see two such powerful entities so close together, and in human disguise to boot!

When the aura finally died away and all the air data had been collected, the man pulled out a pocket computer, and started uploading the data to his boss. As the small taskbar showed him the percentage of upload, he called one of the very few numbers programmed into it. It was answered after one ring, and there was no greeting because the recipient of the data had caller ID.

"How long is this sample for?" Asked his gravely, resonant voice, crisp and clear in the soldier's ear.

"Nearly four hours. And, that was when they were dampening their powers by disguising as humans. I couldn't photograph it, sadly." Magical beings didn't photograph well. The picture was just been a smear of colour and shadow, especially with all those GF all in one place. The human was the only clear thing in it. Though the picture itself was worthless for magical study, the scout sent it along anyway. "There is a human there, though. Laguna Loire's son, Squall Leonhart."

A pause on the other end. "I can see that, Byron," he snapped irritably.

Byron cringed and bowed to one leg in apology, even though his master couldn't see him. "My Lord, there is one other thing a... most interesting thing."

"Oh?" Byron's Lord's voice was bored, as if he expected a moronic answer.

"Bahamut was there. Protecting Loire's son."

"Bahamut...?" Hesitation came to his voice. "Well, yes. Of course. It was mentioned in the papers about that party of SeeD children finding Esthar's research island."

"No, My Lord. Bahamut wasn't acting as a summon. He was disjunctioned. Under his own power."

Silence.

After a painful three minutes of nothing, Byron asked "My Lord?"

"Who said you could talk?"

"Forgive me!" Byron whispered, falling into a one-legged bow again.

"Bahamut..." Byron's master whispered, almost reverently. "Keep an eye on that area, Byron. I will study this data. Don't call again unless it's an emergency."

"Of course, M--" Byron couldn't finish because his master had hung up on him. Even this far away from him and with an Estharian faceplate covering him, he didn't roll his eyes or stifle a groan. As if he though he'd be seen. Out of being trained with a yoke of fear. And, though it was quite cold and it sounded like two male Behemoths were fighting over a female, he didn't dare move. Not when he'd been ordered to stay.

---

"Good morning."

Seifer's head snapped up. He'd been floating in and out of horrible, painful consciousness. Xu was standing in front of him with a tight-lipped smile on her face. Seifer tried to lunge at her, even though his body just wasn't ready to be functional yet. Phoenix Down wasn't exactly the sweet and serene experience that people liked to believe it was. Maybe even Seifer once thought it would have been less like hell in soft feather form. He was tied naked from the ceiling, feet dangling in a trough of ice cold water. They'd thrown equally cold water in his face again and again to wake him up.

"You seem more lucid. It's unfortunate how slow Phoenix Down takes to work. I want you more aware than this. But, they can start slow." Luchia and Astor were standing beside their boss. Luchia was just as grave and stone-faced as usual, but there was an eager light in Astor's eyes that Seifer had never seen before.

With each passing second, Seifer became more aware of things. For him to be this sluggish after a Phoenix Down, he must have actually briefly died. Or, maybe not so briefly... His first real thought was of Squall and Quistis. Were they okay? Did they make it to Esthar? Had Irvine really betrayed them?

"I see on your face what you're thinking of."

Seifer looked down at her, vision starting to clear. He noticed how... sick Xu looked. She was all sweaty and her eyes were glassy and feverish. Like she was suffering from the flu. "Not feeling so hot?" He asked cheerfully, despite the fact that he was freezing, and his back was killing him. The bullet wounds burned like stars, though they were surprisingly clean and non-fatal. Seifer found it easy to smile and look down into Xu's strangely glittering eyes. He would have to be completely stupid to not be scared, knowing what was coming. But, compared to Ultimecia? They weren't nearly as frightening. The smile faltered a little when he saw a flash of red in her dark irises. He knew how SeeD tortured people, so knew this room would allow magic, though just outside the door would be thick with wards. "What have you been doing, you naughty girl?" Seifer whispered, still jovial but inside his stomach was starting to curl. She'd been doing something very improper magic-wise, and it was affecting her physical appearance.

"Where are they?" She asked, looking at him with pure hatred.

Seifer gave a bitter laugh. His eyes flickered only briefly to Luchia when she started to move towards him. She went behind him. He really, really wanted to look over his shoulder to see what she was doing back there, but didn't take his eyes off Xu's flushed face. The throbbing heat of the bullet holes became searing agony as Luchia roughly probed one with her fingers, poking around and digging out the bullet. Seifer groaned and hissed, but didn't scream. He heard the metallic plink of the bullet hitting the cement floor. "Let's just stop the foolishness. You know I'll never tell you where they are," he panted.

"No. I know that. I could have just left you to die, but why would I deny Astor the joy of killing you slowly?" She gestured for Luchia, and both women left, leaving Seifer alone with Astor.

"Do you wish to know why I'm so eager to hurt you?" Astor asked blandly.

"If I ask really nice, will you tell me?" Seifer snarked back. "'Cause I just can't stand the suspense."

"I transferred to Balamb from Trabia."

"Oh." Seifer's sarcasm vanished away. He figured that he might actually deserve some of what was coming, then.

"Just like your little orphanage friend, Selphie. We ran in different circles, though Selphie was friends with my girlfriend. That is, before you murdered her." The inflection in Astor's voice didn't change, even when he was revealing such personal, painful information. He may as well have been reading a grocery list. "And, please don't try to fob the blame off on some time-travelling Witch."

"I wasn't going to," was the sober reply.

"Of course, I'm going to hurt you. I'm going to destroy you as you destroyed me. But, I also have other debts to pay. I also have to take that which you love most."

Seifer's eyes narrowed, and a whisper of a smile floated across Astor's mouth.

"I still don't know why he forgave you for torturing him at the D-District Prison. I suppose you'll find out if you can be so generous with me. But, Squall did forgive you. And, I want to make a promise to you right here and now, while you're still perfectly lucid." Astor reached behind him, where Luchia's electrified staff had been leaning against the wall. He put on a pair of rubber gloves to protect from any electrical current. He switched it on, and jabbed it into Seifer's stomach. Seifer's breath left him in a loud grunt, voltage painfully shooting through his entire body. He didn't want to scream, and he warred with the instinct, but he couldn't help it. It fucking hurt. He screamed, but Astor showed no pleasure in the noise. When the staff was pulled away, and Seifer's body was still jerking from the electricity, intensified by the water he was standing in, and that was beaded on his cold skin, he wondered how Squall had forgiven him. He didn't believe that he deserved Squall's forgiveness for it, because he sure wasn't feeling very fucking charitable towards Astor right now.

"Now, that promise." Astor slowly cranked up the voltage on the staff. "I will take Squall from you, Seifer. I will hurt him. I'm not into men, but Squall's pretty enough that I might be able to fake it. Knowing how much it will hurt you will be all I need to get aroused. I promise you that I will violate him before I kill him. So both of you know that it was your fault." Now Astor's voice was starting to show flickers of emotion. The rage inside him, the hatred, the anticipation. "Do you think he'll still love you then?"

"Would your girlfriend still love you now, if she could see you?"

Astor's face went purple, his eyes glittering malevolently. "It doesn't matter anymore, right?" He snapped, pressing the star-shaped end of the staff into Seifer's stomach again. The connection point sizzled and burned, filling Seifer's nose with the smell of his own burning flesh. He tried not to scream again, but was only able to hold out for a few seconds before the animalistic noises of pain were ripped from his throat. Though he screamed and screamed, he was able to endure it, simply by thinking about Squall. Thinking of his eyes when he was trying not to show he was pleased about something, the sound of his heartbeat when he slept. His lips when he frowned, the smell of leather mingling with his cologne. The rare, throaty sound of his laughter. His flawless, milky skin. How he'd felt when Squall had finally said 'I love you'. Knowing that as long as he was being tortured, it meant that Squall was still out there somewhere, alive and safe from Xu. And, that was all that mattered.